PHYS-L Attachments Policy (was Re: misconceptions (physics of flight))

["Daniel L. MacIsaac" <Dan.MacIsaac@NAU.EDU>]

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> The sending of the HTML in my recent post was unintentional.
>
> As I have explained, I am working with a new system that seems to change
> configurations (i.e., from plain text to HTML) without my prompting.
>
> I shall master this beast.  Once again, I'll refrain from posting until I
> have the bugs worked out.
...just a comment here; I'd prefer that all posters kept their posts to
plain ASCII.  The DIGEST readers do not always have the means to deal with
inline attachments, and receive long postings of gibberish which they don't
want and resent trying to skip over.  Many readers of PHYS-L cannot deal
with attachments yet (some use mail agents like ELM, PINE or even mh to read
email).

As well, PHYS-L attachments are a prime virus vector.  This semester we
already saw HAPPY99.EXE go by PHYS-L, and Word macro virii were spread
last year on PhysLrnR.  The only acceptable way to share graphics files
now on PHYS-L is to place them on a web server, then post the URL to PHYS-L
and call for feedback or discussion.  That spares the uninterested from
that thread, and removes the generalized dangers to the list.  I am
willing to provide web space to any PHY-L subscriber who wishes
to share any document via this route, with thanks.

I encourage you to read my thoughts on this issue written on the PHYS-L
webpage at http://purcell.phy.nau.edu under posting etiquette, and I
welcome your feedback and suggestions.  And I appreciate your patience.
I hope future editions of LISTSERV can deal with archival of documents
without general list mailings, and can automagically sweep submissions
of attachments for viruses.  And I hope it kills v-cards :^).

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu          http://purcell.phy.nau.edu         PHYS-L list owner